Max Verstappen’s debut for Red Bull in 2016 almost didn’t happen the way Formula 1 knows it. Helmut Marko revealed that Christian Horner was against promoting the Dutchman to the main team after just four races that season.
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The topic resurfaced ten years after Verstappen’s historic win at the 2016 Spanish GP, when the driver won in his very first race for Red Bull and became the youngest winner in F1 history, at 18 years old. According to Marko, the swap involving Daniil Kvyat divided opinions within the team itself.
“Kvyat crashed twice in that race,” Marko recalled to De Telegraaf, referring to the Russian GP held before the change. The Austrian highlighted that the Russian had shown speed in 2015, even surpassing Daniel Ricciardo in some situations, especially on a wet track, but stated that his performance dropped drastically in 2016.
“He was no longer the same driver and complained about the brakes since testing. It became clear that we needed to do something,” he explained. Marko also revealed that Carlos Sainz, then Verstappen’s teammate at Toro Rosso, was frustrated for not being chosen for the Red Bull seat.
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Although he considered the decision “clear and simple,” Marko stated that Horner disagreed with promoting the Dutchman. “Christian Horner did not agree to promote Max after just four races in 2016, he was against it,” he said. The executive also recalled facing strong external pressure, as many believed Verstappen was still too young to take the main team’s cockpit.
Marko described the win in Spain as a “huge relief” for him and Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of Red Bull. “People thought we were crazy, but we managed to silence all the critics,” he said. “Mentally, Max was much more than eighteen years old,” he concluded.
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